I would like to break away from the normal pattern in my articles to relate a story that ties in and illustrates just how powerful and beneficial a positive attitude can be.

When I left the Air force in 1979 as a medical service specialist, I decided to do something completely different and physically demanding. I moved to Houston Texas and went to work as an iron worker in construction. Less than two weeks on the job, an equipment operator lost control of his front end loader and crushed my legs against a concrete wall.

This was a pretty devastating event due to not only being restricted in using my legs but the fact that running long distance had been an integral part of my life for years. I was at a major turning point in my life. What was I going to do now?

What could have been the start of situational depression, had I focused on what I had lost and couldn’t do, was turned around when I focused on what I could do. There was nothing wrong with my upper body so I started focusing on that. I worked at it diligently every day while my lower half healed and ended up with a massive upper half. This kept me focused and moving forward in my thoughts during the healing process for my legs.

I went back to work as soon as I possible doing the same kind of work. I had been back to work about five weeks when I was sent to a new site to weld down some corrugated decking quickly because a front was coming in with high winds. I was upstairs welding one panel down and moving to the next to beat the front before the winds came up when my world turned upside down, literally.

In their haste to get the panels down, they had laid them over the elevator shaft and hadn’t taken time to mark it as a hazard or put up any boundaries. I didn’t realize it was there until I was falling head first into the concrete 22 feet below. I barely had time to throw my arms out in front of me before I hit. I found out later that I had broken both wrists, broken and dislocated both elbows and had major bruising, abrasions and cuts to my face. The good news was that I had survived a fall that could have easily been my demise had I not been so strong in my upper body.

Once again I found myself in a situation that could have easily placed me in the throes of depression, especially after just getting over the previous accident. Once again I focused on what I could do rather than what I couldn’t. I had two long arm casts on but they were fiberglass so weight was not a factor. I started off with speed walking, then interval running and eventually just running. Before I got the casts off I was running up to five miles.

I wanted to relate this story to you because either one of these event could have left me a changed and beaten person if I had let it. Once again, I encourage you to think in a positive manner, see the good side of things, focus on what you can do and open yourself up to a happier, healthier and more productive life.